Jesus (“It’s all about Me”)

Luke 12:13-21
Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?”
And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
Then He spoke a parable to them, saying:
“The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.
“And he thought within himself, saying,
‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’
“So he said, ‘I will do this:
I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years;
take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”‘
“But God said to him,
Fool!
This night your soul will be required of you;
then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

In this column I want us to look at Jesus and covetousness. This will be the first of several columns dealing with our own hearts and self and how it we relate to the call of Jesus and His will for us in His Kingdom.

There is a deep conflict with the will of God and the will of the flesh. This strikes at the very heart of the present day ‘western’ passion of getting more and being successful. The words of Jesus here and elsewhere in the Gospels is something that must be carefully considered.

What does this passage mean? Why the desire to have more is the “American’ way! It is often what one hears from the pulpit to the ‘Wall Street Journal’. Any person running for president is constantly promising people that they will get more with them than with anyone else. Almost every congressperson follows the same concept. Where do you hear this and what is the message.

The message is clear “It’s all about Me’.

The popular message of today is “Give Me; how can I get more; I want to know how I can get what I want.’ And of course ‘with no sacrifice’.

Just look at the feature books in any bookstore’¦they are almost all about ‘success’ ‘self’ ‘fulfillment’ ‘How to get rich’ ‘How to lose weight’ How to look better’, etc.

The message of Jesus clearly comes in conflict with the desires of this age!

We want war with no deaths and no taxes. We want services but no sacrifice. We want and if we are not careful we want to excess.

In our society we eat to excess, we drink to excess, we smoke to excess, we use medication to excess, we drive to excess’¦etc. We want and the only thing we don’t want is someone to tell us what we can’t want or do. Because in the ‘It’s all about me’ society it’s truly ‘It’s all about me’!

This is not new, it is a common trait of fallen humanity. From the Garden of Eden to today the human race is in conflict with a focus on God and others.

In this story we see a man trying to get Jesus to do what the man wants Jesus to do.

Then one from the crowd said to Him,

“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?”

If we are not careful we do the same thing. Often the believer is tempted to try to get Jesus to do your will rather than you doing the will of God! What this translates to is the person trying to make God your servant rather than you God’s servant. Which of us have not tried such in one’s life.

Jesus rejected this request. The Kingdom of God is not the kingdom of this world.

Now we look at the parable or (story illustration) by Jesus.

This man was successful.

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying:

“The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.

“And he thought within himself, saying,

‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’

“So he said, ‘I will do this:

I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.

He worked hard, prepared his soil for the crops, planted well and cultivated his crops and reaped a great harvest. He did just what the success books and teachings encourage you to do. This man was a success! He would be a leader in our business community. This was a great illustration of capitalism. He was a successful entrepreneur

Except in the eyes of God this man was no success but a total failure.

Why?

Because his focus was ‘It’s all about me’!

‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years;

take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”‘

We must beware of inward focus that ignores God and others.

This man had what we dream of today in the modern world. Success and a great retirement! He could buy a house by the beach in Florida, golf and enjoy the good life. Enjoy the fruit of your labor is the idol of our time.

Jesus was not condemning success and work and prosperity.

“But God said to him,

‘Fool!

This night your soul will be required of you;

then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Get the message from Jesus:

‘It’s Not all about me’

‘It’s ALL about Jesus!

As you read the Word’s of Jesus it is easy to understand that it is not the success that is the problem but the attitude of this ‘rich fool’. He wanted to succeed for his on pleasure and indulgence.

God called him a fool and God calls you and I a fool should we have the same attitude.

Life has a responsibility to others. I am not the object of life. We are called to Glorify God and serve others and fulfill the call and mission Jesus has for you. It is not my will but God’s Will.

No matter what you may gain in this life, at death it passes to someone else.

God calls the person a fool who lays up treasure for one’s self and is not rich toward God.

Real treasure is being ‘rich’ toward God; giving of our time, talent, money, love and service. Loving God with all our heart, soul, strength and might and loving our neighbor as ourselves.

As we love and serve others we are rich toward God. We cannot in this life ‘touch’ God in the flesh or Jesus but we can touch others and love them and serve them.

As we give to others we give to God. You give directly to other people or give through a church or ministry, etc. When you trust God you are being rich toward Him, as you love others and serve and share the message of salvation in Jesus with others you are being rich toward God.

But getting back to the man’s inheritance and the overflowing barns the man focused on himself rather than God.

For everything God bless you with and every blessing we are to find joy in giving rather than simply consuming.

Some of you prayed and made promises to God about things you would do with the money you prayed and worked to have. Now you keep it for yourself or consume it on your one desire and for your own pleasure.

Many of the most wonderful and blessed people I know are givers! They have joy and peace and blessing and they care for others. They have a living faith that rest in God and they are not hounded by fears and insecurity and worry.

Show me a person that has worry and depression and inner security or that is aggressive and assertive and pushing to get more and more and I will show you a person that has the attitude of ‘It’s all about me’. God calls this person a fool.

God does bless with material possessions in different measures. You can still have the attitude of this foolish man whether you have much or little. So people with a few things are often as greedy or self-centered as the rich person. It has more to do with the attitude than the amount.

I simply ask a question? Are you rich toward God? Am I rich toward God.

Is my passion self or others and God?

We pray for things then when we get them or the healing or the wife or the car or the money what is our attitude? Is it all focused on me?

Now how shall I begin a new focus and how do I start living a life rich toward God.

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Arthur Blessitt has carried the cross around the world in every nation and is listed in the Guinness World Records for the world’s longest walk over 42,788 miles 68,860 km, in 324 countries, island groups & territories for 51 years.